EXCLUSIVE: VC-backed proptech Silkhaus to wind down UAE short-term rental business

Silkhaus, the Dubai-based short-term rental operator, is preparing to wind down its UAE holiday-home operations, less than two years after raising a growth round to expand into Saudi Arabia.

A member of the company’s finance team stated in a public LinkedIn post that Silkhaus had decided to cease trading, while other employees have announced their departures and said they’re looking for new roles.

Owners have separately reported receiving notices terminating their management agreements on November 11, a date consistent with booking restrictions identified by FWDstart.

The company had raised more than $10 million in equity and debt before securing its latest financing in January 2025.

An owner posting on Reddit said an October 12 email outlined plans to cease holiday-home operations across the UAE, citing the impact of regional conflict on tourism and bookings, with an option to move to First Class Property Management. A second commenter reported receiving the same notification.

FWDstart hasn’t been able to obtain the original notice or independently verify the posters’ identities. However, checks of properties on Silkhaus’s website across Dubai and Abu Dhabi found that bookings couldn’t extend beyond November 11.

Silkhaus hasn’t responded directly to FWDstart’s repeated requests for comment. Employees previously approached said they were unable to comment, while First Class Property Management declined to discuss the reported transition arrangement.

Silkhaus’s LinkedIn page also appears to be unavailable, although it’s unclear when that changed.

Seraya co-founder Ibrahim Shami publicly described Silkhaus as “winding down its UAE operations”, offering assistance to property owners and inviting employees to contact his company about available roles.

Founded in 2021 by Aahan Bhojani and Ashmin Varma, Silkhaus targeted demand for furnished accommodation from remote workers, relocating professionals and corporate travellers whose needs fell between a hotel stay and an annual tenancy.

Its pitch was to use technology to build a scalable business in a fragmented short-term rental market, initially targeting cities across the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia.

Silkhaus handled furnishing, maintenance, guest services and distribution through booking platforms. Under its revenue-sharing arrangements, landlords received a share of booking income while outsourcing day-to-day management. The business also included leased apartments, although the company hasn’t disclosed the split between leased and managed properties.

Pricing software, booking integrations and smart locks were intended to streamline operations, while owners could track their properties’ performance through a portal.

The company raised a $7.75 million seed round in November 2022 from investors including Nuwa Capital, Nordstar, Global Founders Capital and VentureSouq. An undisclosed multimillion-dollar pre-Series A financing from Partners for Growth followed in January 2024, alongside access to an additional credit facility.

Those financings took its total equity and debt funding above $10 million, before a further seven-figure round led by Nuwa and Oraseya Capital in January 2025. The latest round was intended to support its Saudi expansion, with bookings opening in Riyadh alongside Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

At the time, Silkhaus said gross booking value had more than doubled annually since launch and that it had hosted guests from over 120 countries, with roughly a third coming from the GCC.

Its Saudi operations appear to have already ceased. Riyadh is no longer listed as a destination on Silkhaus’s website, while its Riyadh page still appears in search results but redirects visitors to Abu Dhabi properties. Sabine El Najjar, its chief commercial officer and Saudi general manager, lists her tenure as ending in August 2026 on LinkedIn, three years after joining to lead its entry into the kingdom. Silkhaus hasn’t confirmed a Saudi withdrawal or when it took place.

The reported wind-down invariably invites comparisons with Sonder, whose collapse last year raised questions about the economics of using technology to scale an accommodation business.

Sonder announced an immediate wind-down in November 2025, after Marriott terminated their licensing agreement, and subsequently filed for Chapter 7 liquidation. It attributed its financial difficulties partly to delayed integration with Marriott’s systems, unexpected costs and falling revenue.

Silkhaus’s reported withdrawal comes amid an uneven recovery in Dubai’s tourism market following the regional conflict. Hotel occupancy reached 66% in August, up from 36% in March, but remained at 89% of its year-earlier level. Dubai received 869,000 international overnight visitors in August, its strongest monthly total since February, according to official figures.

The extent to which those conditions affected Silkhaus remains unclear. The explanation linking its decision to regional conflict comes from the owner’s account of the termination email.

The company hasn’t clarified what will happen to existing reservations, outstanding payments to owners or property handovers. The terms of the First Class transition described in that account, including how many apartments it might cover, also remain unconfirmed.